Will an RZT-S Solve My Steep Slope Nightmare?

[Ric]

Anyway, I realize that I am exceeding the manufacturer's recommendation when I mow a slope this steep, but I'm able to do it now with the Snapper, I just want a safer solution. Even though they use a different transmission, can anyone with a Z Force S or a Tank SZ tell me if their machine will stop on a downhill?

People may think I'm crazy but if you're looking for a safer solution and you like the Cab Cadets have you thought about there walk behind mowers. Something like the G 1336 or the G 1548 Walk Behind mowers something in that category. Just a suggestion.

 

[txzrider]

I am sure this will not help much because I have to believe in all the time you have mowed this slope you have tried it... On the steeper part of my hill, I can easily drive up the hill, stoping ,starting and making turns (no more that 45 deg) and then I back down the hill. So I drive to the top and then turn the mower so that I come back down offset by 30 inches or so. This part of my slope is maybe 20 degrees. I can easily drive across it as long as I point the mower at like 40 degrees. I then either come back down it backwards or even turn the mower to point down and just let it go unto it levels out. the disclaimer is I dont have an acre of this ... anyway like I said I have to believe you have tried it. Also just in case you havent, be very light on the sticks when you stop and take off again. I can easily lift the front wheels a foot by hitting it full on. Also the other thing I did was to put snappers hig traction wheel kit(the tires looked like almost paddle tires with v ribs) on my mower from the start. This cured most of my slipage. Also there is another thread on this forum where the gentleman bought the RZT-S and claimed it worked very well on slopes. I am about to find out how well my country clipper I bought does on my same hill. I have a feeling I will be looking for similiar tires to the old snapper traction kit for it.

 

[txzrider]

one other point I had meant to make is... while reading the engine manual for my new mower it made a point of stating the limit of the engine to handle a slope is 15 degrees. Which I take to mean it would suffer oil starvation.

 

[texhobbit]

one other point I had meant to make is... while reading the engine manual for my new mower it made a point of stating the limit of the engine to handle a slope is 15 degrees. Which I take to mean it would suffer oil starvation.

Thanks for the input txzrider. I have always felt very uncomfortable backing down the slope. The Snapper front wheels have very little weight on them and steering is a problem. I feel pretty safe driving down forward because steering is good, but sometimes I go faster than I want and dig up grass because of slippage.

When I bought the Snapper years ago, I made sure it had an oil pump and was not just splash lubricated. So far I have had no oil related engine problems. I have no reason to believe that the RZT engines will be different since they also have an oil pump (but you have a good point).

 

[txzrider]

My B&S on my new mower says it is lubricated as well, however it still says the limit is 15 degrees. that being said I mowed with the previous splash lubed 13hp brigs for 12 years on the same hill.

 

[Ric]

I am sure this will not help much because I have to believe in all the time you have mowed this slope you have tried it... On the steeper part of my hill, I can easily drive up the hill, stoping ,starting and making turns (no more that 45 deg) and then I back down the hill. So I drive to the top and then turn the mower so that I come back down offset by 30 inches or so. This part of my slope is maybe 20 degrees. I can easily drive across it as long as I point the mower at like 40 degrees. I then either come back down it backwards or even turn the mower to point down and just let it go unto it levels out. the disclaimer is I dont have an acre of this ... anyway like I said I have to believe you have tried it. Also just in case you havent, be very light on the sticks when you stop and take off again. I can easily lift the front wheels a foot by hitting it full on. Also the other thing I did was to put snappers hig traction wheel kit(the tires looked like almost paddle tires with v ribs) on my mower from the start. This cured most of my slipage. Also there is another thread on this forum where the gentleman bought the RZT-S and claimed it worked very well on slopes. I am about to find out how well my country clipper I bought does on my same hill. I have a feeling I will be looking for similiar tires to the old snapper traction kit for it.

txzrider

Which Country Clipper did you buy, what model?

 

[txzrider]

jazzee one 20hp 38inch deck. I had a need to go though a gate. I really had thought I would go larger and just rebuild the gate. Instead this seemed like a good deal. only 27 hours on a less that 1 year old new mower. Showed up on craigslist just as I was about to call the dealer to have him make the one he had ready for me to pickup. About 1200 less than a new one and 700 less than the best deal I could find on a new unsold last years model(with no tax to boot). And it works great on my slope, it must be better balanced, because it has less tendenancy to want to turn down the slope. After 15 years with a 33 inch deck I really was bound and determined to go 42 or possibly even 50. So far the only thing I noticed is it is built much stronger than the snapper. The joystick is a little twitchey(for lack of a better word) which I attribute to being a taller stick since it is almost twice the height of the one on the snapper.

 

[Ric]

I thought at one time about buying a Country Clipper but the nearest dealer is like 70 miles away and I didn't like the thought of running that distance if something went wrong, that was one of the reasons I purchased the Cub Cadet. The CC dealer is 5 miles down the road.
I hope if Texhobbit buys that S he gets the 22 HP Cub Cadet with Kohler Courage.

 

[txzrider]

I am curious as to why you are suggesting the smaller motor for texhobbit. If my dealer were 70 miles away I prob would have bought something else. however honestly I do 99% of my own maintenance. oil changes, greasing the various grease fittings, replacing belts and even spindles are not hard. With the deck on the Country Clipper I expect that to be even easier. If it does at least as well as the Snapper I had life will be good.

 

[texhobbit]

Ric, I'm also curious why you are promoting the 22 hp Kohler. When I compare the three RZT-S models on the Cub Cadet website, they all appear to have the Courage 725cc engine but the hp varies. The 42" cut has a 22 hp engine. The 46" cut has a 23hp engine. And the 50" has a 25hp engine. So I wonder if the engines are in fact basically the same, and what they are doing to increase the hp for the bigger mowers.

So Ric, why do you like the 22 hp Courage over the more powerful engines?